


The End of the World

by CharmingProcrastinator



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Defenders Cameo, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, POV Karen Page
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 00:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmingProcrastinator/pseuds/CharmingProcrastinator
Summary: Change is the air for Karen and Frank as new enemies arise in New York City.A bit of fluff with a slice of angst, I guess? This little thing has been rattling around my brain for a while, and I finally decided to write it before S2 of The Punisher steamrolls all over my head cannon.





	The End of the World

Karen looked at her feet, massaging her temples in an effort to ward off the headache the discussion currently taking place in the new offices of Nelson, Murdock & Page was causing her.

Luke Cage had showed up, a somewhat reluctant Jessica Jones in tow, to discuss with Matt what to do about an increasingly violent crime syndicate that was trying to take over the city in the renewed absence of Wilson Fisk. It probably would have been more accurate to say that Jessica and Luke had come to talk to Daredevil, as what they were asking had nothing at all to do with what Matt could do inside a courtroom.

The new crime bosses were not as subtle as Fisk had been, did not try to hide their criminal actions and grabs for power with a veneer of altruism and respectability, and the body count in the wake of their attempts to gain control of the city was starting to grow rather quickly. While investigating a case of her own that seemed at first unrelated to organized crime, Jessica had unearthed evidence that confirmed what Karen, Foggy and Matt has started suspecting a few weeks before: the NYPD had once again been compromised, and the new syndicate had dirty officers at their service.

Lather, rinse, repeat, so to speak.

“We need more allies. I think… I think it’s time we thought about bringing in the big guns… Literally.” Luke said, with a resigned tone.

There was a beat before Matt scoffed in disbelief. “The Punisher? You want to bring Frank Castle into this?”

“Hey, I’m not crazy about adding a crazy white guy with a bunch of guns to this fight, believe me, but at the speed that these new crime lord wannabes are moving… If we can get him to clean the Kitchen, it frees you to look after Brooklyn, while I deal with Harlem, Danny and Colleen watch over Queens and Jessica keeps an eye on the rest of Manhattan. We are outmanned, and we can’t count on the police.”

“This may not be my place,” Foggy intervened, “and I really, really hate to say this, but I think they’re right, Matt. Look at it this way…  If you don’t bring him in yourselves, he might jump in on his own. At least this way, you can use him strategically.”

Karen was desperately trying to keep calm, to keep her breathing in check. Not much could be done about her heart beat, but Matt seemed distracted enough by his former acolytes not to notice.

“Even if I agreed with this insane plan, I wouldn’t even know where to find Castle or how to get in touch with him. Do you?” Matt said.

“No. But I bet Blondie here does…” replied Jessica.

The four of them turned their heads to look at Karen.

“Karen?” was all Matt said, but she could hear a thousand other questions in his voice. And if he hadn’t noticed how fast her heart was beating before, he sure would notice now.

Shit. There was no point in even trying to lie, was there?

Karen sighed, bracing herself for the looks of disbelief and disappointment she was sure to see on Matt and Foggy’s faces.

“Yeah. I know how to get in touch with him,” she confessed, and waited for the storm.

 

A few hours later, from the privacy of her apartment, Karen sent out a text message to a number saved as Pete in her phone. She would have called, but the way she had left things with Matt… The look of betrayal and suspicion that she had seen on his face made her fear that her walls (or more accurately, a nearby rooftop) might have ears at the moment. She didn’t quite fully believe that Matt would go so far as to use his supernatural talents to stalk her in order to find out where Frank might be hiding, but she wasn’t 100 % sure that he wouldn’t somehow convince himself that he needed to do so for her own good either.

Trying to explain to Matt the details of what had happened when Lewis had taken her hostage a little under a year ago in order to convince him that the last person Karen needed to be protected from was Frank had been a frustrating exercise, and a futile one at that, if the expression on Matt’s face when they parted ways was any indication.

Ergo… better to let her fingers do the talking for the moment.

_Something has come up. Can you meet me tonight?_

The response came before she even had a chance to put down her phone

_I’m guessing this has nothing to do with coffee. Where?_

Karen chuckled. No, definitely not about their informal quest to find the cheapest best coffee in New York, which had started only a few weeks after the final showdown with Fisk. Frank had showed up at her place, completely freaked out and angry at himself for having been away for the last few months, spending time off the grid when the whole shit show had happened.

Karen had been so happy to see him, she’d spent a rather embarrassing amount of time sobbing with relief in his arms.

_The usual place?_

_Meet you there in an hour._

Karen threw a jacket on and made her way out of the building. It usually only took her 30 minutes to walk to the waterfront bench that had become their designated “covert” meeting place when they needed to discuss topics that were too risky to talk about out loud in the coffee shops and diners they usually favoured; tonight, however, in case the devil was on her tail, she had decided to take the subway (he couldn’t well follow her in there in his Daredevil costume, could he?) which would take her past their spot, forcing her to walk back a bit.

 

She arrived before Frank did, sat down on the bench to watch the city lights reflected on the river. It would never end, would it? The factions fighting for control of the city would just keep coming, and coming, no matter how many times good people defeated them, no matter how many good people had to die opposing them.

Maybe she should just… Leave it all behind. Go live in the boons somewhere, back in a small town, back where you can see the sky without having to look up, back where the air smells fresh… back where there are eyes on you all the time, back where you hear their whispers behind your back, back where you’re expected to keep sweet when men condescend to you, back where you get so bored with life you feel you can’t fucking breath.

Karen huffed a bitter laugh, trying to get a grip on her dark thoughts. The fact was, she felt more at home in the fight her life had become since her days at Union Allied than she ever did at any other point in her adult years. (Whatever that says about her, she’s not sure. A shrink would undoubtedly have a field day, though.) And then there was the man who was approaching her now. After all their conversations over coffee and diner food since he came back into her life a few months ago, she was done trying to deny her feelings. He may never be able to return them, might never feel for her what she felt for him, but there was no point pretending to herself that she could ever leave Frank Castle behind. Not willingly.

“Hey!” he greeted her, handing her a cup of coffee as she rose from her seat.

“Hey! Thanks for coming… and for this,” she replied, raising her coffee in salute.

“I walked past this place I’ve been meaning to suggest we try. Figured, why not kill two birds?” he shrugged. He looked good. He always did lately, free of cuts and bruises. He’d pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, and suddenly, Karen was reminded of another meeting by the water a year ago, of a very emotional conversation that had ended with him kissing her cheek.

Karen shook off the memory, bracing herself for the serious conversation they were actually here for.

“So… I’ve got some interesting news to share,” she started. Frank grunted, an invitation to go on.

“Matt knows you’re around. He knows we’ve been… in contact.”

Frank snorted. “Bet Red was thrilled to hear that.”

“Ecstatic,” she deadpanned. “I couldn’t deny it, he would have known I was lying anyway. And that is still a touchy subject between us. He was already pretty pissed I kept the fact that we’ve been hanging out a secret in the first place.”

“So what did you tell him?”

“The truth. That your whereabouts were not my secret to tell, just one I was privy to.”

Frank made an appreciative face at her choice of words, which made her chuckle.

“Anyway, the whole reason your name even came up is… Well, Matt and his, um, _associates_ think they might need your help.”

She could tell she had stunned him with that, which was fair, she couldn’t believe this was happening either. She related to him the whole conversation that had transpired in the offices of Nelson, Murdock & Page.

“I wasn’t about to give them your phone number or tell them where you live… But I told them I’d contact you, and give you a way of contacting them if you wanted.”

Frank stayed quiet for a bit. They had started walking at some point during the conversation, and now came to a full stop when Frank broke his silence.

“What… What do you think I should do?”

Karen took a deep breath. She knew she was going to cry before the night was over, she could feel it coming.

“I don’t know. I mean, you’ve been doing so well since you came back and… with your pardon and everything you have going for you now… I don’t want your second chance to be taken away from you… If you step in, you’ll have at the very least the cops on your tail again…”

“But?”

“But… I don’t think Matt and the others would even think about asking for your help if the situation wasn’t incredibly dire.”

Frank was looking at her.

“And if… If I did decide to step in? Would you… Would you be okay with that?”

Karen took a deep breath.

“I know better than to ask you not to do what you think is right. If you think it’s right…”

Frank threw his empty coffee in a bin nearby, then walked over to the promenade’s railing, leaning his forearms on it to look at the water. Karen imitated him, and after a beat, he spoke again, his voice sounding as if it hurt to say the words.

“The truth is, Karen, I haven’t been doing as well as you think I have. I’m trying to keep my nose clean, but I’m… Fuck, I’ve been itching for a fight. I follow the news, I know what’s happening in the city, and standing by, letting it happen, it’s been killing me. I’m not sure… Even if you hadn’t come to me with this tonight, I’m pretty sure I would have jumped into the fray anyway.”

Karen swallowed past the knot that had formed in her throat at his confession, trying to find what to say, but finding no words.

“The question is… Will I lose you over this?” he asked.

She didn’t even need to think that one over. “No. No, of course not…”

“I know things haven’t been easy with you and Red, I thought maybe…”

“That’s completely different,” she interrupted. Karen and Matt were friends again, but there was no denying that their relationship wasn’t as easy-going as before. They were trying to let bygones be bygones, let hurtful word exchanges be forgotten and forgiven but… but some days, the ghost of their respective lies, of Elektra, of Father Lantom, of James Wesley were too present to pretend that they never existed, that they hadn’t altered their dynamic irreversibly.

“Matt and I, our issues, they have nothing to do with his extracurricular activities. I mean, I worry for him when he goes out there at night, I always will, but I don’t begrudge him for needing to do it, not anymore. And I’m fucking terrified for you, but I can’t begrudge you either for not wanting to watch by the sidelines. Not when I myself don’t want to stand idly by. I hate it… but I could never hate him. And I’ve never been able to hate you either.”

Frank considered her for a moment.

“Really?”

“Really. What can I say? You vigilantes are complicated men who bring out complicated feelings.”

Frank huffed a laugh.

“That’s real deep, Ma’am,” he teased. “What, are you a writer or something?”

“Not anymore!” she replied, with a strangled laugh that turned into a sob. Those dreaded tears she knew were coming were now rolling down her cheeks.

“Hey, hey,” Frank said, before gathering her in his arms, making those shushing noises that would have pissed her off coming from anyone else, but always seemed to calm her down coming from him.

“You miss the Bulletin a lot, huh?”

Karen just nodded against his neck, knowing she didn’t have to explain just how much losing her job as a reporter, what she had come to think as her calling, still hurt. Frank pulled back out to look her in the eyes, one hand cradling her cheek, the other wiping her tears away.

“When I step in to put those fucking mobsters in their graves, I’m pretty sure the Bulletin is going to want their vigilante expert back,” he declared, and she could tell he was only half-joking.

“Better go grab your guns, then,” she joked in return, with a real chuckle this time.

Frank smirked. “There she is!”

Karen smiled back, and then suddenly became very aware of how close they were, of how Frank was still holding her cheek. She turned her face to drop a light kiss on his palm, expecting him to draw back now that her tears had stopped.

But he didn’t let her go. His thumb caressed her jaw and then, after what felt like an eternity, he leaned in and kissed her tentatively on the lips, before settling his forehead against hers, eyes closed.

Karen’s heart was now beating wildly inside her chest. Not wanting to push for more that he was ready to give her, she decided to fill the silence with a bit of light humour.

“Well, would you look at that? The world didn’t end.”

Frank pulled back, and she caught a wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

“Oh? Guess I didn’t do it quite right, then” he said before bringing her in to kiss her soundly this time, any tentativeness gone to make place to a hungry confidence.

Karen gave back as good as she got, surrendering completely to it, to him, knowing this had been a long time coming, for her at least… Maybe even since the day she walked into Frank’s hospital room with Matt and Foggy, and their eyes had met for the first time.

This thing between them, it was like fire. And it wouldn’t be easy. It would be dangerous, and scary, and she could see countless sleepless nights spent worrying about him in her future. But right now, standing here as he kissed the breath out of her, Karen knew she could never have it any other way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I’ve been thinking of writing a companion piece to this from Matt’s POV, but I have no clue if it would even work, or if anyone would even be interested in reading that... So if you think that might be something you’d be into, let me know, and we’ll see what happens! Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
